Kasubi Police, Kampala Uganda It now seems that the Magara Kidnap saga has opened the floodgates and ushered in a new phenomenon of Kidnap for ransom.

According to Court prosecution on April 23, 2018 at Kasubi in Lubaga division, Atwebembire and Ansiimirwe hatched a plan to defraud Scovia Nahabwe and demanded three million shillings from her as ransom for releasing Ansiimirwe from kidnappers but received only 750, 000 shillings before they were arrested.

Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court heard has and incarnated a 19 year old student together with her boyfriend for faking her kidnap and demanding ransom from her parents.

On Tuesday, court charged Peace Ansiimirwe,a resident of Ishaka in Bushenyi district and her boyfriend Julius Atwebembire, 22 of receiving Shs 750,000 from her mother for ransom in a bid to have her released.

Scovia Nahabwe the mother took up the frightening issue to Police and on tracking the phone traffic and chatter of the alleged kidnappers, it was unravelled that Julius Atwebembire who had eloped with Scovias daughter in Kasubi was in the thick of things.

The lovers Julius and Peace face charges related to obtaining money by false pretence, demanding property with menaces and conspiracy to commit a felony.

They denied the charges before Buganda road court grade one magistrate Samuel Kagoda remanded them to Luzira until May 18.

In February 2018, Susan Magara (below) met a horrific death.

RIP: Susan Magara

She was gruesomely murdered by yet-to-be identified criminals days after she was kidnapped. The body of the late Susan Magara was recovered [a few metres off the road] at Kitiko between Kigo and Kajjansi along Entebbe highway. The body has been taken to Mulago for postmortem.

Since then a series of kidnaps has gradually increased in the country.

In April 2018, Police in Kampala arrested 21-year old Mariam Uwase who allegedly staged her own kidnap with intent to extort money from her ‘stingy boyfriend’. Uwase is said to have manipulated her voice using a voice changing software and made frantic teary phone calls to her boyfriend claiming she had been kidnapped and a Shs25m ransom staked on her head.

Her “stingy” panicky boyfriend wired Shs700,000 and started pleading for her life with commitment to send the remainder of the money once he chances on it but after a few days of negotiation with the alleged abductors, Old Kampala Police launched a secret rescue mission only to find Uwase living in luxury and comfortably in a mansion.

Buganda Road court chief magistrate’s court last month convicted Sarah Nasirye Sarah, 26 of charges related to demanding for a ransom from her dad over alleged kidnap. Nasirye had earlier admitted that on April 18, she demanded for ten million shillings from her father Hajji Sulaiman Mutyaba claiming she had been kidnapped.

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful carrying away (asportation) and confinement of a person against his or her will. Thus, it is a composite crime. It can also be defined as false imprisonment by means of abduction, both of which are separate crimes that when committed simultaneously upon the same person merge as the single crime of kidnapping.

The asportation/abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear. That is, the perpetrator may use a weapon to force the victim into a vehicle, but it is still kidnapping if the victim is enticed to enter the vehicle willingly, e.g., in the belief it is a Special Hire Taxi

Kidnapping may be done to demand for ransom in exchange for releasing the victim, or for other illegal purposes. Kidnapping can be accompanied by bodily injury which elevates the crime to aggravated kidnapping.